Changing HDD on a laptop

I need help on swapping out my HDD in my Dell Inspiron 8600. I have worked on desk computers, but never on a laptop. My current drive is a Hitachie Travelstar 2.5” 4200rpm, ATA-6, 40 gig -OEM. I am looking at either another Hitachie or a Seagate..

I want to install a 60 to 80 gig, 7200rpm, and then put my current 40gb in an external box.

My questions are:
1) Are laptop drives universal, that is will any 2.5” HDD fit?
2) From my limited research going from 4200rpm to 7200 rpm will generate more heat and take more power (power on my AC adapter). Will this be a problem?
3) I have seen on this site that not all external enclosures work with TI. Can someone recommend an enclosure for my 2.5 drive (own power supply) that will work with TI8 and 9?
4) Are there any additioal cables i will need?

I have read enough to know how to setup the new drive once it is installed.

I need help on swapping out my HDD in my Dell Inspiron 8600. I have worked on desk computers, but never on a laptop. My current drive is a Hitachie Travelstar 2.5” 4200rpm, ATA-6, 40 gig -OEM. I am looking at either another Hitachie or a Seagate..

I want to install a 60 to 80 gig, 7200rpm, and then put my current 40gb in an external box.

My questions are:
1) Are laptop drives universal, that is will any 2.5” HDD fit?
2) From my limited research going from 4200rpm to 7200 rpm will generate more heat and take more power (power on my AC adapter). Will this be a problem?
3) I have seen on this site that not all external enclosures work with TI. Can someone recommend an enclosure for my 2.5 drive (own power supply) that will work with TI8 and 9?
4) Are there any additioal cables i will need?

I have read enough to know how to setup the new drive once it is installed.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Answers:
1) In almost all cases they are.
2) No, but consider a more economical 5400 rpm drive as well.
3) Buy the basic CompUSA 2.5" enclosure, $19.95 and guaranteed to work.
4) No, this enclosure comes with everything you need. You will need two available USB ports.

When you buy this enclosure, it comes with two USB cables. One cable plugs into your laptop for data transfer while the second cable draws power from your laptop to run the external drive.

If you try to run the external drive without plugging in the second USB power cable, it will freeze the computer. However, you can buy a decent regulated 5VDC@1A (or greater) adaptor which can plug into the enclosure instead of the second USB power cable. That way you only need to tie up one of your laptop's USB ports.

Remember that Dell uses a special blade adaptor which is plugged onto your existing internal hard drive. You will have to carefully pry it off and reinstall it on the new internal hard drive so all connectors match properly.

In addition, just be sure that the new drive is the correct height - if your old one is 9.5mm high and you buy one of the older types which are higher it will not fit. There are still some of these older and "higher than 9.5mm" drives being sold.

on a notebook hdd, 'length' is the longest dim, on one end are its pins.

width is the 2,5 in usually referred to.

9,5 mm refers to the hdd's the height, it is equivalent to about 3/8 of an inch, and the smallest of its mechanical dimensions, and so, yes, you should check, just to make sure that you're not going to get one of those old stock clearance items (but clearly, I haven't come across any of these so far at all recently).

The odd thing is that when it comes to the laptop drives, they are referred to by their width in inches (2.5") but the thickness or height is quoted in mm. (9.5mm). So be sure the description says 2.5 inch and also 9.5mm.